Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Ronny Henriquez Traded by Rangers to Twins for Mitch Garver

The Minnesota Twins traded catcher Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers for shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and pitching prospect Ronny Henriquez, the Twins announced Saturday.

ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel first reported details of the trade.

Texas will hope Garver can put together a bounce-back season as he takes over as the club's starting catcher.

The 31-year-old New Mexico native was terrific for Minnesota in 2019. He posted a .995 OPS with 31 home runs across just 93 appearances—a 54-homer pace across a full 162-game campaign—to earn a Silver Slugger Award.

He struggled during the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season, posting a .511 OPS in 23 games, and couldn't shake off a series of injuries last year when his numbers were starting to rebound (.875 OPS).

Garver underwent groin surgery in early June and then dealt with lingering rib and back ailments upon his return in mid-July.

"Wrecked by injuries, absolutely," the veteran slugger told reporters in September when asked to describe his 2021. "Wrecked is an understatement."

It's a high-upside addition for the Rangers, who will slot him into the middle of their lineup alongside Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia, Nathaniel Lowe and Corey Seager. The success of the deal depends on Garver staying healthy, though.

Meanwhile, the offseason addition of Seager, who signed a 10-year, $325 million contract as a free agent in December before the lockout, made Kiner-Falefa expendable for Texas.

Kiner-Falefa, a former catcher, took over as the Rangers' primary shortstop last season. He was a standout defender, racking up 10 defensive runs saved (via FanGraphs), but his .670 OPS and eight homers in 158 games wasn't enough to prevent the pursuit of Seager.

He'll take over as the Twins shortstop after the departure of Andrelton Simmons, who signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Chicago Cubs on Friday, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.

Henriquez, rated by MLB.com as the Rangers' 15th-best prospect, is a 21-year-old right-hander with 53 games of minor league experience.

He split the 2021 season between the High-A Hickory Crawdads and the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders. He compiled a 4.71 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with 105 strikeouts in 93.2 innings across 21 appearances (16 starts).

Henriquez will probably spend another year in the minors before competing for a rotation spot in 2023.